Selected quad for the lemma: work_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
work_n	day_n	lord_n	week_n	6,148	5	10.2436	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42350	The Christians labour and reward, or, A sermon, part of which was preached at the funeral of the Right Honourable the Lady Mary Vere, relict of Sir Horace Vere, Baron of Tilbury, on the 10th of January, 1671, at Castle Heviningham in Essex by William Gurnall ...	Gurnall, William, 1617-1679.	1672 (1672)	Wing G2258; ESTC R10932	62,221	185

being to sin what putrifaction is to diseases the more of this in a disease the more dangerous it makes it the more of that in a sin the more abominable it makes it nay further though the aim be not false yet if that which God allows to be our inferiour end be made our ultimate it depraves the action if I aim at the comfort and relief of a poor mans necessity in my alms which I may and ought yet if this be the highest I look and my eye passeth not through this to the glorifying of God it becomes unacceptable a man may lose the prize by shooting short as well as wide of the mark now how hard to keep our eye fixed on this ultimate end truly even as hard as to keep our eye fixt on a single object through an Optick Glass held by a trembling hand Fourthly Every Duty must be timed aright the Christians life is full of duties and those very various now he is called to exercise himself in one then in another now to pray anon to meditate now to be in his Closet then to be in his Shop about his worldly calling now to private then to publick now to reprove then to encourage or comfort his Brother As one that hath a Shop full of divers Tools all necessary for his Calling but this for that purpose and that for this in it now if he should cut with his Axe when he should smooth with his Plain he would soon spoil his work that which is at one time a Duty would if done at another be a Sin Diligence in our worldly Calling on the week day is the work of the Lord but the same on the Lords day would be Satans no doubt as many a fair Child hath been lost by an untimely Birth so many a good Work spoiled by an unseasonable performance and to discern time and judgment for our actions requireth both wisdom and care and these labour and pains Thirdly The difficulty the Christian finds to order his Conversation so that his care for one part of his work may not hinder him in another Now the reason of this difficulty is the seeming contrariety of some duties to others Seeming I say not real indeed it is in Satans service only not in Gods that there is a real contrariety of work Errors have their opposites he that maintains one cannot if he understands himself hold some others so in Practical Lusts some are at such a feud that when one is in the Throne the other is kept under but all Truths agree lovingly together being all but one Faith and so do the Graces of a Christian being all the effect of one and the same Holy Spirit they do no more hinder one another in acting than the several wheels in a well made Clock do one anothers motions or the various members of the body one the others Operations and Functions yet I say there is a seeming contrariety And as it requires Art and care to touch the several strings of an Instrument that have different Sounds so as from all may result one harmonious sound so much more holy skill and care in a Christian to exercise these many various Graces and perform so many divers Duties in such a sweet concurrence and fellowship that from all there may result an uniform Holiness in the course of his life The Christian must be Zealous but leave room for Discretion or else like a Ship that hath all Sail and no Ballast he 'll grow top heavy he must fear to sin and yet hope in the Mercy of God when he hath sinned and repents of it 't is his duty to draw near to the Throne of Grace with an Holy boldness but it is his duty even then to preserve an Holy awe and reverence he must be sensible of the hand of God when afflicted or else he is not a Man but then he must bear it patiently or else he is not a Christian he must be meek and lowly in his carriage to all even the meanest yet must keep an high courage and noble resolution not to be turned out of the path of Duty for the frowns of the greatest he must love his Brother but hate the sin he commits how many such riddles are there in Religion Now is it an easie work for the Christian to drive his Charriot in so narrow a path without justling one duty against another to hold a fair and friendly correspondence with all these duties and not set one at variance with the other Fourthly The great opposition the Christian meets with in doing the Lords work makes his labour still greater Other men can work in their Shops quietly and few or none will molest them much less throw stones at them but the Christian he 's hindred from all hands First The flesh within controuls him lusting against every good motion and holy action which the Spirit of God stirs him up unto so that he is forced to dispute his way before he can come at his work much ado to answer what the flesh objects against every duty he is to perform Would he pray then the flesh begs time and will be putting it off for a more convenient season some other business it starts first to be done would he give an Alms the flesh asks him whether he meaneth to be a beggar and give that to others which himself may want before he dyes would he reprove a sinning Brother then why will he be a busie body in other mens matters and lose a Friend in doing a thankless office would he bear witness to the Name and Gospel of Christ then pity thy self is its counsel no duty but it either keeps from it or disturbs in it so that he needs a Sword as well as a Trowel to lay every stone in his Spiritual building Secondly A body of flesh hangs heavy upon him the body was at the first and shall again be at last in Heaven a wing but now alas 't is a weight to mans Soul and that an heavy one it should indeed be the Souls servant but now the Soul is fain to tend and wait upon that to provide Food to keep and Physick to restore its Health yet when all is done it proves no over meet help to the Soul if it be strong and healthy then like a pamper'd Beast it grows crank and wanton ready to throw its rider which made Saint Paul keep down his body yet if the Soul discipline it but a little too severely then 't is feeble and tyred Thirdly The World this makes no small opposition First The things of the world the Christians worldly calling is ready to filtch the time which should be spent in the Christians general Martha is in the Kitching when she should be in the Chappel the enjoyments of the world how ensnaring are they sensual delights so sweet Wine that when the cup is at our lips we cannot drink little and so heady and intoxicating that we cannot bear much when troubles come

is But where may some say dwell these Men I am now directing my speech unto I wish they did not swarm every where and made not the greatest number in most of our Towns and Congregations I shall point at a few First He that conceits himself a Christian and nourisheth in him an hope of Salvation even whilst his life is prophane he no doubt thinks it too easie to be a Christian when a man shall think Christ will own him as his meerly for his Christian name and not reject him for his Heathenish Practices thinks that his heart is good though his life be wicked whereas his life could not be wicked if his heart was not so for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh when men shall think they are Gods Servants though they be the Devils Labourers that God is their Friend when they declare themselves every day his Enemies In a word to think they shall leap at death è coeno in coelum out of Delilahs lap into Abrahams bosom is not this to make it an easie thing to be a Christian and no hard matter to be saved and where is any one who hath not first been convinced from some work of the Spirit so bad that is not yet thus kind to himself yea have they not commonly the strongest Faith who have the weakest Grounds for it they build up Sion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity yet will they lean upon the Lord and say is not the Lord amongst us none evil can come upon us Who knocks more boldly at Heaven Gate to be let in than they whom Christ will reject as workers of iniquity O what a delusion is this Caligula never made himself more ridiculous than when he would be honoured as a God while he lived more like a Devil Before you would have others take you for Christians for Gods sake prove your selves men and not beasts as you do by your bruitish lives Talk not of your hopes of Salvation so long as the marks of Damnation are seen upon your flagitious lives If the way to Heaven were thus easie I promise you the Saints in all Ages have been much over-seen to take so great pains in mortifying their lusts in denying to satisfie their sensual appetite ad quid perditio haec to what purpose did they make so much waste of their sweat in their zealous serving God and of their tears that they could serve him no better if they might have gone to Heaven as these men hope to do That Fryar was far more sound in his judgment in this Point who Preaching at Rome one Lent when some Cardinals and many other great ones were present began his Sermon thus abruptly and Ironically Saint Peter was a Fool Saint Paul was a Fool and all the Primitive Christians were Fools for they thought the way to Heaven was by Prayers and Tears Watchings and Fastings severities of Mortification and denying the pomp and glory of this World Whereas you here in Rome spend your time in Balls and Masks live in Pomp and Pride Lust and Luxury and yet count your selves good Christians and hope to be saved but at last you will prove the Fools and they will be found to have been the Wise men Did ever any man arrive at London by going from it every sin is a step from God and the more we sin the further we depart from God Doth not he then take a wise course to come at last to the full enjoyment of God in Heaven who by a lend wicked life runs as far from him as his legs can carry him Secondly They who think they are good Christians and fair enough for Heaven though they have no more then a Negative Holiness the best that can be said of them is they are not so bad as the worst they do not take so much pains for Hell as others but none for Heaven they labour not so much in the Devils work but work not at all for God like those in the Gospel they stand idle all the day long and yet hope for a peny at night though they never entred into Christs Vineyard they are so far from labouring in the work of the Lord that they will not touch his work with one of their fingers Do not these think it very easie to be Christians as if God was bound to save them but they not bound to serve them Is not Heaven called a reward and what reward can be expected where no work is done if some that work shall be denyed all reward because they did not labour at it and some seek that shall not be able to enter because they do not strive then miserable must thy condition be who fallest short of those who themselves fall short of Heaven Thirdly Formalists and slothful Christians and how many are these who will not be Atheists to live without all Religion but resolve not to be Zealots They are more then key-cold but are afraid to be too hot in their work they are not idle but cannot be perswaded to be diligent they love such a temper in Religion for their Souls as they do a Climate for their Bodies to live in it must be a very temperate one afraid to exceed only in Piety and Holiness in which alone there can be no excess Oh what a delusion is this he that will chuse another temper for his Religion than God hath commanded had need provide another Heaven for himself than God hath prepared for that is given to the zealous Labourer not the lazie Loiterer The violent are they which take this Kingdom by force a man may be sure of Hell with a little pains but Heaven will certainly be lost without our labour and diligence and the reason is because every man is born in a state of sin and damnation and so needs no more than to fit still in that state to bring inevitable destruction upon him to Hell he will come soon enough though he gallop not so fast as others in riot and excess But alas we are born afar off from God and Heaven much labour is required to get into the way that leads to life Eternal and when we are in it many a weary step to take abundance of work to dispatch sins to mortifie temptations to resist afflictions to endure impaired Graces to repair weak to strengthen and to persevere in all this labour till death it self takes us off This we must do or else as Saint Paul said of their abiding in the Ship we cannot be saved It is with the Christians Spiritual Life in this respect as with his natural his body hath within it self that which is sufficient to cause the death of it but not to maintain its life This provision is without as a man he will dye though he make no use of knife or halter to dispatch himself not taking food or not using physick will do it alone Thus the Christian hath enough within him to procure his Spiritual death and

any visible hopes of her recovery but as soon as she came again to her self she said I know my Redeemer liveth and being conveighed to her chamber there again I know whom I have trusted An Hypocrites hope is compared to the giving up the Ghost Job 11.20 And in this particular not unlike As a dying man his breath grows shorter and shorter till at the last it is quite puffed out so commonly the Hypocrites hope lesseneth as death grows nearer and commonly expires before the man himself doth Sixthly Her Humility This we may call her upper Garment with which she strived to cover her other Excellencies though their Beauty was rendered the more conspicuous and amiable by casting this veil over it Grace indeed is like an Oyntment which the closer it is held in a mans hand the more strongly it sends forth his sweet scent Oh how meanly did she think of her self she saw not how her own Face shined while others beheld and admired Ever complaining she was useless and unprofitable and did no good Never spake she of her Perfections but frequently other Imperfections and unworthiness yea she would often say I abhor my self indeed I do How easie of access for the meanest to come into her presence how affable courteous and lowly to the poorest many times when her very Servants had done a business well she had set them about she would say I thank you to them The Law of kindness was in her Tongue to whomsoever she spake I have but a word or two to speak of her gracious behaviour in her last Sickness and I shall say no more of this Honourable Person her Pains was strong but her Patience stronger never was she heard to mutter or utter any repining word but justified God in all his proceedings with her Yea more she was much in admiring and blessing God for his Mercies in her acutest Pains and greatest Agonies How doth this Blessed Soul now Carol forth the Praises of God in Heaven who could sing them so sweetly while these sharp Thorns were at her Breast that could keep her Heart in tune for this high note in her greatest bodily pains and dolours She was not without assaults from Satan it were strange indeed if he should not have considered this Pretious Servant of Christ and not offered her some disturbance at this time whom he had found so great and old an enemy to him and his Kingdom of darkness but he came only to be beaten back with shame and to add more Trophies to all her former Victories over him The last words which I find were observed to be spoken by her before a sleeping Lethargy seised on her poor spent body which in two days carried her off the stage of this life were How shall I do to be thankful how shall I do to praise my God Thus she ended her life here in the exercise of that Duty which was to be her constant endless work in that life she was now entring into I have done speaking of this Elect Lady and have now only some reflections to make from what I have said on her upon our selves First Let us all be stirred up to give God the praise of those his Graces which he so abundantly poured into this Elect Vessel her light hath shined very radiently before most of your eyes her good Works you have seen and many of you been refreshed by them now glorifie your Father which is in Heaven think it not enough to go home and say she was a good Lady a pretious Christian indeed but as your eye passeth through the Air and stayeth not till it terminateth on the Sun so let your thoughts not stay in the admiring other Perfections but pass from her and fix upon God the Donor and Father of all these good and perfect gifts Say not only she was a good Lady but oh how good and gracious is God to fill such a poor Earthen vessel with so much of his Heavenly Treasure Again Let us bless God who hath so happily finished her course and delivered her from the snares and miseries of this evil world The Souls of the deceased Saints are above our Praying for them being at rest in a glorified state they are beneath our praying to them being still but Creatures in Heaven though glorified but they may and ought to be the subjects of our Thanksgiving unto God This is a duty therefore the greater because it is for the greatest of Mercies that which crowns the whole series of Gods gracious past Providences to them If you think your selves engaged to bless God for your Friends whom God hath brought safe home to you after a long and dangerous journey or recovered out of a perillious Sickness how much more then should we be thankful to see any of our Godly Friends carried safe to the end of this great journey and landed at their Heavenly Fathers House not recovered from a Sickness which is but an adjournment to death but to have shot deaths gulf and to be set everlastingly above it Secondly Let the radient Excellencies that were in her humble us for her Deficiencies A coorse piece of Cloth never appears to coorse as when laid by a fine nor a Dwarff so low as when set by one that is tall How may her knowledge in the Scriptures shame the ignorance of many of us Her awful fear of God the little reverence we have of the Divine Majesty Her zeal for God our coldness Her reverence in the Worship of God the rudeness of many who behave themselves therein as if God Almighty and they were fellows Her charitable Spirit and large Heart whereby she concerned her self in the wants and miseries of others the narrow and selfish Spirits of many who like the Hedghog wrap themselves up in their own soft wool and turn out bristles to all others Or who say with that fat Monk stroking his own filled Paunch If it be well here all is well though others be shithering with cold pining with hunger How may her Humility which hid so great Excellencies in her from her own observance put them to the blush that are puffed up with their poor pittance of gifts or graces much more those who are swelled with a fancy of having that which none can see they have In a word How may her Patience under great Afflictions reproach the murmurings of many when they feel but a little smart from a gentle Correction as if they would turn again upon God and snatch the Rod out of his hand I might say I fear too many that seem here to mourn for the loss of this good Lady as Christ to the Jews Weep not for her but wee for your selves that you are so unlike to what she was Thirdly Let the high measures of Grace this Pretious Servant of God attained to encourage all weak Christians to press forward after further degrees of Grace Sit not still for shame at the bottom of this Hill when you see how